


A New Stance

by deerna



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Ana Amari's My(stati)stical Bullshit, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blackwatch Era, Grinding, Kissing, M/M, Relationship Issues, Shooting Range
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 19:11:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13083504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deerna/pseuds/deerna
Summary: Even as Gabriel’s hands closed around his wrists, to get him in the right position, Jesse suddenly couldn’t help but think of the last time he’d been held like that, in a very different context- it had been a while since they had days off at the same time, hadn’t it?





	A New Stance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [halfcharacter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfcharacter/gifts).



> This was a real challenge! Such an interesting prompt for this couple: sniper.
> 
> I changed my mind a million times about it, but I really hope you like it!  
> Merry Christmas!
> 
> \----
> 
> A huge thanks to Taako & Jaquel who beta'd and helped me finding a decent title!

The HQ got always quiet around the holidays and it wasn’t any different that year.

Many of the agents that usually lived on base had taken leave as soon as they got the chance, to go home and celebrate the festivities with their families and relatives; the ones who stayed were simply too allergic to social interaction to go out of their way to actually _live_ the place, or just too swamped with work to leave their offices and rooms.

It suited Jesse fine; while he didn’t mind the buzz and the bustle of agents during the rest of the year, he usually enjoyed the times he could finally eat in the cafeteria without endless queues, and take a shower without having to stare at some stranger’s butt or junk. 

Last year Jesse had taken full advantage of that, but this time he’d made the mistake to let the paperwork pile up on his tablet desktop, and so he’d been forced to spend the whole morning of his first official day of vacation compiling and sending off reports. By the time lunchtime rolled around, he was nowhere near done, but he decided that he still deserved a break. 

“Athena,” he called out, stretching his back like the laziest cat and rubbing both his hands down his face, grimacing at the slightly unkempt scruff. “Is there anyone in Shooting Range Five?”

“Shooting Range Five is empty until five-hundreds tomorrow,” the AI answered filling Jesse’s room with her slightly metallic tones. 

“Swell. Keep it that way for the next couple hours, I’m gonna visit in a moment.”

That was definitely the best part about an empty base: the knowledge that he could just pull on a pair of jeans, throw a flannel on his t-shirt, pack his gun and go down to his favourite training room, and find it _gloriously empty_. He usually had to book it through Athena with great advance, and more than once he had to sign himself up while he was still in the field to make sure that he was going to have his usual spot when he was back, but not this time. 

Going to the shooting range between missions was more than a habit- for Jesse, it was almost a religious experience; he’d start feeling antsy and uneasy, if he didn’t get to practice. 

It had been Amari who'd gotten him into the routine, when he’d first started shooting with her. While he’d been honoured to have her teaching him her tricks, at first Jesse had been reluctant to listen to her pointers, secretly convinced that he was never going to need them. After all, Jesse McCree hadn’t made a name for himself in the most dangerous gang of Route 66 by being a lousy shot.

But Amari hadn’t tried to fix his shitty posture, nor to get him to switch to a rifle, nor she’d given a fuck about his habit of chewing on his cigarillo as he took aim- that had been Gabriel, actually. She had brought him down to her favourite Shooting Range Room (the very same he still used every time) and told him about luck and chance and accuracy, instead. 

She knew her gun intimately, her mind was quick as lightning when she calculated trajectory and wind speed on the go like some kind of computer, and she could effortlessly time her breathing and heartbeat while lining up a shot. To Jesse, there was no doubt that her superior instincts and reflexes were what made her the best sniper that Overwatch had ever seen; but Ana thought that her best skill was, namely, taking the most lucky shot with the most effective timing.

Going everyday to the shooting range wasn’t just a way to learn how to shoot in a controlled environment; it was also a matter of learning _when_ to shoot. Repetition had an additional, almost ritual function: getting rid of _bad luck_ through statistical failure. 

Though Jesse had been tempted more than once to call her out on that mystical sounding pseudo scientific bullshit, he could never shake the feeling that she was right about it. 

Since her lessons, every time he went to practice, the knowledge that he could take down the six targets over and over again, having Athena restart the simulation as many times as needed- it put his mind at ease. Every mistake was almost a blessing; missing a shot in here, meant that he wasn’t going to miss while he was on the field. 

It was real exercise, for the first two dozens of rounds or so, but then the way he could just let his muscle memory load and lock and shoot- the rhythmic sounds and clicks and the familiar weight of his Peacekeeper in his hands- it started to feel easier than breathing. Single shots or quick bursts- six perfect bullseyes, over and over and over- until he missed one once in a while, but it was okay, too. It did nothing to interrupt his flow, because it was meant to happen.

“Don’t tell Ana, but I’ve always found your shooting way more impressive than hers,” said a voice in Jesse’s comm, a voice that didn’t belong to Athena, breaking through the wall of relaxation and concentration that his mind had built around itself. 

Jesse whipped around and found Gabriel smirking at him through the clear glass that was meant to protect bystanders from the noise and the dust. He waved him in, knowing that Athena had already unlocked the door for the Blackwatch Commander.

“Shouldn’t you be in your office? You told me you were going to either be elbow deep in paperwork or praying for the sweet embrace of death before Morrison could bust your ass for those late mission reports,” he teased him, shaking his head as he reloaded his gun. 

“Shouldn’t you be wearing these on your head and not around your neck?” Gabriel teased him back, pulling at Jesse’s noise-canceling headphones.

Jesse shrugged. “I couldn’t wear my hat, if I did,” he humoured him, but he already knew what was going on. Overwatch spared no expense when it came to technological advances, and their state-of-art shooting range absorbed sound so well it was almost like shooting outside- but old habits die hard, and the safety measure stayed, though it was mostly for show. So yeah, Gabriel’s concerns were mostly diversion tactics. Thankfully, at this point Jesse knew them very well. “Don’t change topic. You ran away, didn’t you.”

“Maybe,” Gabriel conceded, rummaging in a storage drawer to get a pair of headphones for himself as well, before putting them around his neck. “If I ran from my paperwork, so did you.”

“Hey, I won’t tell if you don’t.” Jesse swirled the gun, and took down the three small training bots that wandered the range almost without looking, and gesturing so Athena could send out another set. “I thought that watching me shoot pissed you off because of my shitty form.” 

“Show off,” Gabe scolded him, getting closer. “Maybe impressive is the wrong word. Maybe I should’ve said more satisfying. You know I don’t like rifles much.” 

“You do prefer loud guns,” Jesse noted, before fanning the hammer of his gun and blowing a neat vertical line of holes into the closest target, deafening bursts eating the echo of his words.

“I’d also prefer you didn’t lean so much on your left when you line up your sights,” Gabriel sighed right into Jesse’s ear, closer than ever, a warm line pressed against Jesse’s back.

Even as Gabriel’s hands closed around his wrists, to get him in the right position, Jesse suddenly couldn’t help but think of the last time he’d been held like that, in a very different context- it had been a while since they had days off at the same time, hadn’t it? Gabriel had to be thinking the same thing, because he soon seemed more interested in grinding his hips against his ass, sliding a hand down his stomach to press him closer, than to correct his stance. 

His gut knotted in arousal and annoyance; he _wanted_ Gabriel, but he wasn’t done shooting. “Gabe,” Jesse called, carefully extracting himself from his hold, trying to find the right words. 

“Sorry,” Gabriel apologized, immediately taking a step back, though his hands stayed around his hips. Jesse’s felt Gabe press his forehead between his shoulder blades, let out a shaky breath before speaking again. “Sorry, I just- I miss you. I miss _us_.” 

Jesse touched his wrist, pressing gentle circles in the flesh and against the bones there with his thumb, leaning back into him a little, letting him know that he was fine, they were fine. “I miss you too- I can’t wait to make time for us, now that we’re on vacation, but- not now?”

“Not now. I know,” Gabriel muttered, taking a step back. 

Suddenly cold, Jesse turned around to look at him and saw him take off his trademark beanie to run a hand through his hair, a gesture that he recognized with a pang of chagrin as something that Gabe usually did to soothe himself. 

“I didn’t mean to interrupt- I just wanted to see you.” 

“It’s okay,” Jesse told him, trying to be reassuring, but he felt hollow. He could tell that Gabriel was disappointed and trying hard not to show it, but Jesse had never seen him like that. 

Gabriel had never been a demanding lover. He always joked that with his position at Blackwatch, he didn’t have the time to spare to be one. Even the rare times they weren’t busy because of their job, he’d always seemed content with doing whatever Jesse had wanted- but seeing him like that made Jesse fear that he’d been selfish, careless, ignorant of Gabriel’s actual wants and needs.

“Look,” Jesse said and walked right up in Gabriel’s personal space, stealing his hands before he could pull at his curls again and mess them up further, placing them on his own back, encouraging him to touch him. “I’m actually mostly done for the day, let me finish here and we can go back to my place.” 

Gabe squeezed him, a frown on his face. “Jesse, I-” 

“You know, you’re right. We haven’t been seeing each other for a long time, and I _want you_ ,” he interrupted, rubbing up against him and pulling him into a kiss, a promise for later. “I just wanna go a few more rounds and make sure that my party trick is in good working order.”

That put a smirk back on Gabriel’s lips- it always did, calling Deadeye a party trick, as if Jesse hadn’t single handedly wiped whole teams of enemy agents with a single gesture. 

“Well, if you’re sure,” he conceded with an exaggerated sigh, but he didn’t move by an inch, making Jesse laugh with his ridiculousness.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/somewhatclear) and [tumblr](http://somewhatclear.tumblr.com)


End file.
